Gambino did not panic after his first attempt failed, he just thought he did not apply enough force and decided to keep applying more and more force until the old man's leg budged.
Gambino was very proud that he was an Aurelius, he was even more proud that he was able to reach tier6 at the ripe young age of 44.
Becoming a god within vampire society and being adored by millions, Gambino truly believed that his power was nothing to scoff at.
He was a god! Just how long could a mortal stand strong against him? Sooner or later the mortal was bound to budge.
For the first few seconds, the entire war council was all but assured of the outcome that the senile old man was going to be thrown out. But once 20 seconds had passed of Gambino trying to throw out the old man and he did not seem to even budge, whispers started to exchange amongst other council members as they began wondering just what Gambino was upto?
At the one minute mark, Gambino was visibly struggling.
Sweat dripped from his forehead and his muscles and veins started to bulge.
Anyone could see that Gambino had approached his very limit, as he had begun to bite his own lower lip, yet despite everything he was throwing at the old man, his leg just would not budge.
" Umphf "
With an exasperated sigh, Gambino let go of the old man's leg and fell flat on his but, his eyes wide with disbelief as he stared his own two hands wondering if this was all a dream or reality?
He smashed the ground tile beside his arm and the entire fortresses trembled slightly under his strength which confirmed the fact that he had indeed not lost his strength, but somehow he was unable to pick the old man's leg.
" Gambino, stop fooling around! " One of the other Aurelius commanders said as in his mind he could not fathom as to how a god could fail in the process of moving a tier1 mortal's leg.
Even if Regus Aurelius himself gave Gambino the same challenge, he could probably push the monarch back a few steps, hence it was inconceivable that he could not pick up the leg of a tier1 mortal.
" What happened eh boy? All talk no show? " Rudra asked with a dangerous undertone of sarcasm in his voice as he rotated the right foot of his over his toes and lifted it above the ground and stomped it back a few times to show that it was really not stuck and that it was Gambino who could not lift it.
" Damn it old man, I'll kill you! " Gambino threatened but Rudra was not afraid.
He looked straight into Gambino's eyes and smiled as if provoking the young god to give that idea a shot if he dared.
" It must be the angles, I must have applied the force from the wrong angle! " Gambino said as he gave lifting Rudra's leg a second shot.
This time around he pressed down on Rudra's thigh and tried to create a lever using his own hand as a support to push up from under Rudra's calf to create pressure on his kneecap to fold.
Starting straight off from his maximum power, Gambino gave it his all and then some to make the old man's knees bend and break but no matter how much he pressed on those knees they just wouldn't budge.
Gambino felt his ego shatter like a piece of glass at this moment. In front of the war council, in front of his king Regus Aurelius, he was failing to lift the leg of a tier1 human which he had humiliated a few mere moments ago- after the news of this incident spread, he was surely going to become the laughing stock of the universe.
Gambino lifted his head to look into Rudra's eyes and at first the old man had pale blue eyes that looked like they had long lost their shine, but then they suddenly turned an ominous bright blue and contained a strength that seemed to peer through his very bones.
Gambino felt goosebumps arise on his skin as he looked into those eyes as he began involuntarily trembling as he lost his grip on Rudra's leg.
" What sorcery is this? Just who the hell are you? " Gambino said out loud as the atmosphere in the council room turned tense.
All the tier6 god's in the room could not bring themselves to believe that at their strength level anyone could fail at lifting an old man's leg as they thought that Gambino must be a weakling to fail this challenge, but Rudra who had long expected them to come to this conclusion invited them all one by one to try their luck.
One after another all 6 counsellors in the room huffed and puffed and struggled to their utmost limits to lift an old man's leg, however, in the end all of them failed.
A sombre atmosphere gripped the council room as nobody could look into the eyes of the other in the room anymore.
Their pride as god's had been utterly humbled by an old man today.
Shaking his leg and smiling the same wrinkly old smile that he had from the start, Rudra now looked into the eyes of Regus Aurelius himself.
" Does the monarch fancy a shot? " Rudra asked as immediately Gambino and the 6 other god's present in the room drew their weapons and pointed it at the old man.
" The monarch doesn't touch the feet of mortals " Gambino declared as while on the outside he said those words with conviction, internally he was shivering with fear as to what would happen if their monarch failed to lift the leg of a mortal.
While their own personal losses were acceptable, for the monarch to fail would mean a loss of face for the entire vampire society!
Thankfully Regus Aurelius had more sense than his counsellors as he chuckled at this display of arrogance by the old man without being offended.
" There is no need for that, good sir, I think you have already taught the younger generation a lesson in respect, which I think was necessary for them.
Your technique, the divine stomp is quite refined and I'm in awe.
I think you have already proved your point that you understand what the power of a god is-
This council will now listen to your words with utmost respect, so please speak " Regus said as he addressed Rudra with respect that was unusually polite, even for a monarch.
Even as a mortal without showing off his true powers, it took Rudra only 15 minutes to tame an entire war council and make a Monarch address him as ' Sir '.
Max who was watching from the sidelines felt his chin rise up with pride as he heard the monarch's words as after that he had to struggle really hard to keep his facial expressions neutral.
It took an inhuman effort for him to not smile smugly and rub the victory of the old man on the council members who looked down on him, but somehow he managed.
The old man was a mysterious figure for sure and today Max had realised that he was absolutely not to be trifled with.